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Highway routes into Death Valley.

Traveling by Car

The main road transecting Death Valley National Park from east to west is California Highway 190.

On the east in Nevada, U.S. Route 95 parallels the park from north to south with connecting highways at Scotty's Junction (State Route 267- Access closed until further notice), Beatty (State Route 374), and Lathrop Wells (State Route 373).
The most direct route from Las Vegas is via Pahrump, NV, and California Highway 190.

Coming from the west, State Route 14 and U.S. Route 395 lead to Ridgecrest, CA where State Route 178 heads east into the park. Further north on Hwy 395 at Olancha, CA you can join Hwy 190 to the park, or north of that at Lone Pine, CA, Hwy 136 will also join Hwy 190 heading east into the park.

South of the park, Interstate 15 passes through Baker, California on its way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. State Route 127 travels north from Baker to Shoshone and Death Valley Junction with connections to the park on State Route 178 from Shoshone and connection with California Highway 190 at Death Valley Junction.

Using GPS Navigation

GPS Navigation to sites to remote locations like Death Valley are notoriously unreliable. Numerous travelers have been directed to the wrong location or even dead-end or closed roads. Travelers should always carry up-to-date road maps to check the accuracy of GPS directions. DO NOT DEPEND ONLY ON YOUR VEHICLE GPS NAVIGATION SYSTEM.

There is no specific street address for the park or the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. Many GPS users have had success using the street address for the Death Valley Post Office which is located about 400 meters south of the visitor center.The post office address is:
328 Greenland Blvd.
Death Valley, CA 92328

Map coordinates for the visitor center are:
N 36°27.70
W 116°52.00

By Private Plane

There is a small public airport at Furnace Creek. Fuel is NOT available at the airport.

There is also a rough paved strip at Stovepipe Wells. No fuel is available.

We recommend airport information manuals for further details.

Public Transportation

At this time, there is no public transportation available to Death Valley National Park.

Traveling Safely

Many of Death Valley's roads were built in the 1930s. They are narrow and serpentine and cannot be driven at high speed. The most dangerous thing in Death Valley is not the heat. It is the "single car rollover."

Cell phones do not work in Death Valley! Do not depend on them. In some cases there is spotty reception, but dependence on a cell phone in an emergency situation can be fatal.

Travel on the park's hundreds of miles of backcountry roads requires the correct type of vehicle for the road conditions, a vehicle in good repair with all necessary tools and replacement parts, and some knowledge of driving on rough dirt, gravel and 4-wheel drive roads. Backcountry travel in the summer months, April through the middle of October, can be dangerous and also requires plenty of water and supplies stored in the vehicle and knowledge of how to survive a failed vehicle in desert summer conditions!